


Hawks and Doves

by leslie057



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: But not that scary, F/M, Jancy, Murder Mystery, Suicide, Summer, This is literally a spooky love story, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-19 14:00:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14875094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leslie057/pseuds/leslie057
Summary: After her neighbor kills herself, lionhearted Nancy Wheeler abandons her summer plans to focus on uncovering the real reason for the young woman's death. But when several others decease, she knows she needs to solicit her boyfriend, Jonathan, for his help. Their analysis of the successive murders commences, her feelings for him in strong existence. It is not until later that he notices they have been following the wrong leads from the beginning.





	1. The First Death

**Chapter I: The First Death**

_Late May, 1986_

"Wait, Mike, wait!" she cried hushedly, scampering down the stairs and paying no heed to the fact that she was clothed in a pale yellow nightshirt. The sirens blared on, advancing toward Maple Street, their street. Nancy Wheeler, a bright girl of eighteen, had not felt such a crescendo of dread in many years. But some souls in that neighborhood would inevitably be affected by the gunshot in ways that struck more than fear in their hearts.

Her parents called after her and her brother, chastising them for their blind bravery. Yet they rushed to the street, the damp ground staining her socks. The dead end was crowded with the entirety of their neighbors, whose murmurs were growing louder. Nancy clutched Mike's shaking hand, tugging the both of them through the horde. Although she was horrified, it was a small consolation that they were not running to the Sinclair house.

She felt no comfort, however, when she saw Elijah Blackburn hunching over a motionless figure that was doubtlessly his wife, Andie. She gasped as tears brimmed in her brother's eyes. The Blackburns were barely in their thirties, but they had lived next to Nancy's family for a while. Once an ambulance and police cars appeared, everyone flew away like spooked birds. But not Nancy. "Mr. Eli," she shouted, sprinting to his yard. "What _happened_?"

The man trembled, gesturing weakly to the pistol in Andie's limp hand. Nancy stared, feeling nauseous as she looked at the appalling head wound and matter in the grass. Upon opening her mouth to speak, a large hand grabbed her shoulder and pushed her aside. Officers and other experts flooded the scene, making careful movements and wearing protective equipment. Elijah was soon drowning in their questions as his beloved was lifted onto a stretcher. People were told to stay away so that any evidence was not contaminated.

The teenage girl ran back to her driveway where her family members embraced. "She s-shot herself," she disclosed in a wobbly voice. "She killed herself." Karen gave her daughter a brief hug, weeping gracefully. Nancy turned to face the couple's home, a desire for revenge already swelling in her. Whatever had driven the young woman to take her seemingly joyful life, Nancy wanted to hurt it. She breathed deeply, observing her surroundings as if time had slowed. Fireflies shimmered in the dark of dusk, bringing light to a deathplace. It would be hours until midnight, but she wanted nothing more than to be fast asleep in her bedroom.

Later, Chief Jim Hopper arrived. Karen and Ted had gone inside to be with Holly, but Nancy and Mike sat at the edge of the street with vacant gazes. Jim was wearing casual clothes instead of his uniform and gripping a handheld transceiver, surely how he had been called there. It was clear where he had been when Joyce Byers exited his Chevrolet rather than a squad car. Joyce was nearly a woman of forty with choppy brunette hair and grit stronger than any man's in the whole town. Jim had not been seeing her for very long, but the two were always together in their free time.

"Kids, you okay? All my guys here yet?" he asked gruffly, approaching the Wheeler siblings. "Yeah. They're _interrogating_ us. I figure we're witnesses," replied Nancy with a bitter flavor on her tongue. Jim nodded uncomfortably. "Wait you-you guys _saw_ this?" he asked promptly, looking haunted. "Oh...uh, no. Not us. We came after the shot. Some of them," she clarified, gesturing to the flock of persons, which was being added to by the street's residents even many houses away. He nodded once more before heading off in that direction.

"My God," Joyce whispered to herself, watching as an officer brought Elijah his infant daughter, Kate, from inside the now ghostly home. Nancy stood up, partly to make her presence more known and partly to stop herself from crying. "Hi, sweetheart," Joyce greeted as she took the girl in her arms. "I'm so sorry this has happened," she sympathized. "Are you both all right?" Nancy inclined her head, wishing they were. "We're...um, we're fine." Kate's disturbing squalls matched her father's while they walked past, a cop escorting them.

"Where are Will and Jonathan?" said Mike, stealing the words directly from his sister. "Oh, I asked them not to go with me. In case it would be dangerous," Joyce answered. Will, being her youngest son, was someone she would never allow to be in harm's way. She might have let her eldest, Jonathan, come―for he was skilled at taking care of himself―except she did not want Will to be alone. For all those boys knew, though, the Sinclairs or the Wheelers were at risk. But they were not, and in a matter of hours, the location of Andie's suicide had been cleared.

Hawkins was too small to have its own detectives, and it was decided this particular case did not need them for the time being. But Crime Scene Investigation agents were called. They spoke loudly about the blood splatter and how they would need to confirm that it was Andie who fired the gun. Nancy felt sick as a result of their obvious implications. In her town, husbands did not kill wives. Barricade tape had been put out, though, and all of the chaos died down quickly afterward. Families crawled back into their houses. Nancy remained outside and watched the sky change, trying to disregard the terrible feeling that this was only the _first_ death.


	2. For God

**Chapter II: For God**

The next morning was overcast. Nancy had gone inside at dawn to sleep, but it seemed then that nothing in the world could have lulled her. So when six o'clock came around, she rose straightaway and pulled on a loose, neutral outfit that would not remind her of the previous night. Her pink wallpaper had never made her feel like she was choking before, yet it was safe to say that was one of the many things changing.

For instance, her urge to get involved with Andie Blackburn's suicide was growing titanically by the second. The Wheelers first met Andie when she was seventeen because she babysat Nancy. Later, she moved to Maryland for college and met Elijah, an oil rig worker. He had sandy blond hair and was just a year younger than her. They lived in Maryland until he finished school, which gladdened Nancy, who always could hear about them when Andie's mother would meet with her own. But out of nowhere, they made a decision Nancy would never understand―they purchased a house in Hawkins.

That house was treated as a crime scene now. So Nancy felt incredibly ignorant as she wandered over to it and ducked under the neon tape. All three doors were locked well, and she had nothing that was thin or sharp enough to open a lock. Instead, she pressed her palms to one of the windows and started to work the pane up and down within its framing. The glass shifting with every push, she carried on for a long time, making slow progress as the clasp flipped upward. At last, it opened. She climbed through, nearly slipping as she stepped into the cold room. Instantly, she knew this was the baby's. There was a bassinet and crib, both covered in lace. On the walls were Andie's paintings, which portrayed deer, trees, women in dresses, and even Kate.

Nancy smoothed her sideswept bangs from her face, swallowing her grief. She entered the hallway carefully and found the couple's bedroom. What stuck out to her was the dressing table in the corner. It was littered with handmade jewelry, religious figurines, and a lot of books.

Something else quickly caught her attention. An envelope, large and falling apart, was underneath a few of the books. _For God_ , it read. She took it into her hands, peering into it. There must have been hundreds of letters. With no deliberation, she tucked it under her arm and left the house, a clear idea of where she wanted to go in her mind. She was not going to rope Jonathan into her _sleuthing_ , but she definitely needed to confide in him.

════════

Jonathan stirred in his bed as the knocking sound recurred. Despite his exhaustion, he stood up and dressed himself, throwing on a worn, soft shirt. He went and opened the door to find Nancy, her eyes appearing bright yet overwrought. "Hi," she spoke, using a honeyed voice to hide her unease.

"Nancy," he breathed, reciprocating her hug. Their relationship was so confidential that it did not really exist; they were the only souls that knew about it. Joyce had asked him if there was something going on, and Mike had asked her, but everyone seemed okay with writing it off as a _connection_. By default, Hawkins knew perfectly well that they were best friends; it was standard information.

"Did-did you _walk_ here?" asked Jonathan over her shoulder. She withdrew from him. "Um...yes. Yeah. But don't worry. I needed the exercise anyway," she answered sheepishly and entered the house with him. "Is your mom really working this early?"

"It's her new job," he indicated. "Will's still asleep, so just...try to...y'know," he trailed off, turning on a lamp. Realization washed over her. She was not the quietest person. "Damnit. I'm sorry. I just...did I wake you up?" she asked suddenly, taking note of his yawn.

"It's fine. And...I know what happened," he stated gently. "Is that why you're here?"

"Yes," she admitted, obtaining some relief. "I can't believe it. I feel awful."

"How well did you know her?"

Nancy's brittle laugh was followed by a sniffle. "Not well. Looking at it now, it doesn't make sense that I'm so upset." Jonathan's encouraging, deep set eyes granted her with strength. "We were only together when she was looking after me. I've known her for, like, fifteen years, though."

"What? Then you _can_ be upset, Nancy," he contended. She messed with her hair while saying, "I guess."

He asked, "How...how much did you see?"

"Nothing. _Nothing_. We were outside after the gunshot," she revealed confidently, not giving him a reason to worry over her and Mike. She hesitated and announced, "I went to the house today."

" _What_?  _Their_ house? Isn't it blocked off and everything?"

"Just with tape. I-I forced one of the windows open."

" _Why_ would you do that?"

"I don't know! I wish I hadn't. You should have seen their daughter's room, Jonathan. She is _ten_ months old," said Nancy. He remained quiet, counting the times she bit her lip. After a moment, she questioned, "What are you doing later?"

"Uh, I'm going with mom and Will to help the chief with cleaning and stuff." The Hoppers were moving out of their cabin in the woods because Jim had finally decided it was safe for him and his daughter, El, to live elsewhere.

"Well, how come I wasn't invited?"

"Aren't you? Mike's coming."

"Oh. I-I can't remember. Um...I'll see you later, okay?" she stammered, standing and choosing not to bring up the envelope as planned. She hugged his neck before going to the door. "Here, I'll drive you-" he offered, searching for his car keys. "I'll walk," she interrupted, already gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> This book is going to be my longest fic I have ever done. I hope you enjoy! And as always, I encourage you to comment because feedback really helps me. Thank you.


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